The Calvert County Sheriff’s Office is investigating claims that a 16-year-old teenager ate a piece of Halloween Candy laced with drugs.

Between 7 and 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, a 16-year-old boy visited about 25 homes in Chesapeake Ranch Estates in Lusby while trick-or-treating, according to a sheriff’s office press release. He was accompanied by at least three adults and three younger children.

The 16-year-old and his mother returned to their St. Leonard home at about 9 p.m. where he ate about 20 to 25 pieces of candy while watching television, the press release states. Deputies said the boy “recalled that one piece,” a lollipop, “tasted unusual” and within an hour he was feeling ill. His mother drove him to Calvert Memorial Hospital at 11 p.m., deputies said.

A preliminary urine drug screening test resulted in a positive reaction to two controlled dangerous substances frequently abused, deputies said. The victim remained in the Emergency Room for several hours and was then discharged.

The boy’s mother posted messages on Facebook about her son’s illness and the positive drug test result, according to the press release. The claims were spread throughout the community and said, “If you went trick or treating in the Ranch Club on the following roads I will post below throw out your childrens [sic] candy. A child is in the ER from eating a piece of candy that was laced with drugs. This IS NOT a joke or a copy from tons of wall posting. Please share with anyone you know that may taken [sic] their kids there!” The claim further states the candy was laced with cocaine and valium and was allegedly given to a child who went trick-or-treating on Gunsmoke, Hickok, Pioneer, Alamo and Comanche trails.

None of the other adults or children who participated with the young victim’s trick-or-treating activities became ill, the press release states, and most of their candy obtained during this event has either been seized by the sheriff’s office or isolated to protect possible consumers. The wrapper and paper stick from the one piece of suspect candy has been recovered by law enforcement. Observation revealed nothing unusual, deputies said.

Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans (R) said the sheriff’s office is investigating the incident as something that did not happen through the Halloween candy. The teenager became ill several hours after trick-or-treating ended, Evans said, and was taken to Calvert Memorial Hospital. A drug substance was found in the teenager’s system at the hospital, Evans said, but deputies believe he ingested it some other way. Deputies are still investigating where the drugs came from, Evans said, and no other reports of incidents of becoming ill from Halloween candy had been reported.

“We’re looking into trying to figure out what happened,” Evans said

The teenager is prescribed a number of medications and Poison Control personnel believe that none of his prescribed medications would have yielded the positive result obtained in the drug screening test, according to the press release. One of the physiological reactions he exhibited does not correlate to known reactions of the drugs detected in his urine via the screening test.

Poison Control resources and administrators within Calvert Memorial Hospital confirmed that some drug testing procedures yield “false positives” if the parameters are too broad or non-specific. The urine sample collected from the 16 year old victim will be forwarded to a second laboratory for confirmatory testing.

As of 2:30 p.m. Nov. 1, no other medical calls for service have been recorded related to Halloween candy laced with drugs and CMH has recorded no additional cases of victims.

The sheriff’s office and the Maryland State Police are recommending that if someone visited homes in the northern portion of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates, any candy received should be discarded immediately.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Rich at 410-535-1600, ext. 2765.